Ivan Vanko
Ivan Vanko - also known by the criminal alias Whiplash - is the primary antagonist of Iron Man 2. A brilliant physicist and mechanical engineer, he embarked on a mission of revenge against Tony Stark and his company whom he blamed for ruining his father's reputation. He was portrayed by Mickey Rourke. History Ivan Vanko was the son of Russian physicist Anton Vanko. Anton had originally worked with Howard Stark in developing the arc reactor, but had been deported from the United States when it was discovered that he was merely attempting to sell the technology rather than use it to benefit mankind. Through most of his childhood, Ivan suffered abuse at the hands of his disgraced father who had turned to alcoholism. Over the years, Ivan became highly knowledgeable in the fields of physics and mechanical sciences, while adopting his father's hatred for the Stark family. At some point he was caught selling Soviet grade plutonium to Pakistan and served 15 years in prison. This would be the only recorded knowledge of his existence. After the death of his father, Ivan immediately began work on a replica of the arc reactor. Ivan constructed an exoskeleton, powered by a miniature arc reactor, to use against Tony Stark in an effort to discredit him. Vanko attacked Stark during the Monaco Grand Prix, using his Whiplash harness to destroy several cars in the race, but Stark ultimately defeated him using a portable Iron Man suit, and Vanko was sent to prison. While in custody, Vanko was asked by Tony why he didn't sell his technology to make money. Vanko replied that he wanted to remove Stark's awe from the people and demonstrate that Iron Man could be defeated. Ivan also deduced that Tony was being poisoned by the palladium in his arc reactor saying, "Palladium in the chest, painful way to die." Later, Vanko escaped from prison with the help of Stark's rival Justin Hammer, who also orchestrated the faking of Vanko's death in the prison break. Hammer and Vanko then made a deal in which Vanko was to build armoured suits like the Iron Man armour in exchange for Hammer Industries resources. Vanko changed the terms of the deal however, when he retrofitted Hammer's existing armour technology from wearable suits into unmanned drones. Vanko was then locked up in the Hammer Industries New York factory, having enraged Hammer with the unexpected change. In the meantime, Hammer's plan to unveil the drones during the World Stark Expo went ahead, although Vanko again surprised his benefactor when the drones powered up and altered the simple unveiling to a full-blown demonstration. Vanko had killed his guards and remotely assumed control of the drones, as well as the War Machine armour worn by James Rhodes. Death As a lengthy dogfight involving both Stark armours and the Hammer drones progressed, Vanko abandoned the factory and got personally involved in an armoured suit of his own. The superior bulk and capabilities of his suit initially outmatched the combined efforts of Stark and Rhodes, but working together they soon found a way to beat him. As he lay wounded in the remains of his armour, Vanko revealed that he had concealed self-destruct devices in his suit as well as all of the Hammer drones. His dying words were, "You lose." Both Stark and Rhodes were able to fly away before Vanko's armour and his robots exploded. Category:Movie Deaths Category:Marvel Characters Category:Marvel Cinematic Universe Category:Iron Man 2 Category:Humans Category:Main Characters Category:Villains Category:Killers Category:Final Showdown Category:Death by Explosion Category:Died In Battle Category:Last to Go